Tips and advice straight from the Lightroom team.

Camera Raw 4.6 and DNG Converter available on Adobe Labs

The Camera Raw 4.6 and DNG Converter Release Candidates (RC) are now available on Adobe Labs. The ‘release candidate’ label indicates that the plug-in is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers. The Camera Raw team would like the community to help verify the quality of the plug-in through normal usage as this will ensure that the plug-in is tested on a diversity of hardware and software configurations not available internally at Adobe.

This release includes official camera support for the following cameras:

Camera Raw provided ‘unofficial’ support for the Nikon D700 raw format in Camera Raw 4.5.(And Lightroom 2.0) That support has been certified without requiring any changes to the previous implementation. Camera Raw is often able to provide unofficial or preliminary support for new camera raw formats. While this support is not fully tested and certified by our Quality Engineering team it does allow photographers who have acquired more recent camera models to open and work with their raw files. In Camera Raw 4.6, photographers with the following cameras will be able to utilize this preliminary support: Canon Rebel XS, Canon 50D, Olympus SP-565 UZ, Sony A900 and Sigma DP1. (Sigma DP1 support is not finalized due to an unresolved white balance bug that will require additional testing)

23 Responses to Camera Raw 4.6 and DNG Converter available on Adobe Labs

Will that be the version included in CS4 or should we expect something totally new?[Camera Raw 4.6 is a release for Photoshop CS3. There is typically a full version update with each major release of Photoshop. -TH]

Thanks for listing the additional cameras that have ‘unofficial’ support, which are not listed on the main Adobe product page. Regarding unofficial support for the Canon EOS 50D, is it the case that it will obvioulsy work/not work, or could it introduce subtle errors and problems that might not be immediately obvious? In other words, what are the risks in using it?[The 50D file format has not been fully vetted by our QE team. In the past that could mean that we don’t have support for a specific compression setting or we haven’t finalized a default profile for the camera. In this case the risk is more likely to be the latter than the former. -TH]

I bought a Nikon D90 camera and would like to try Lightroom 2.0 to process the raw files to see if I like it better than Nikon’s Capture NX but how can I use camera raw 4.6 with the trial version?[Use the Lightroom 2.1 RC candidate. http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Lightroom_2.1 -TH]

Hi; 50D user here as well. Trying to use Mac “Adobe DNG converter” to get my 50D files into DNG format. Current version (downloaded this evening) won’t do it. I see remarks that a beta version has preliminary support, but I am entirely unclear as to how to go about obtaining this support. Can you help, please?[Make sure that you’re using the DNG Converter 4.6 version. -TH]

Can Raw 4.6 be used in conjunction with lightroom 1.4[The Camera Raw 4.6 plug-in will see and respect all adjustments in Lightroom 1.4 and vice versa. The Plug-in itself is not used by Lightroom, any version. -TH]

Can Raw 4.6 be used as a stand alone app to convert raw to DNG for import into Aperture?Will 4.6 work with Elements 6.0 for Mac?[Use the DNG Converter to convert raw files for import into Aperture and yes, Camera Raw 4.6 will work with Elements 6.0 for Mac. -TH]

I see that it does not support .arw files from a900’s. Would it be safe to assume then that it will not support lesser models in the sony alpha line as well?[Randy, see our support list here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html The A900 is included. -TH]

I currently use LR 1 and will be upgrading to LR 2.One of the annoynances of this fine product is that the program (LR) automatically loads anytime I insert – at or after bootup – an external disk that has graphic files. Will LR 2 eliminate this or provide an option? If not, is there a way that I can avoid this occurring?

Can Camera Raw 4.6 be used with Photoshop CS2 ? I got a trial copy on Capture NX with my new D90 but I would like to stay with CS2 if possible to prevent having to learn an all new Interface.Thanxs[Camera Raw 4.6 can only be used with Photoshop CS3. You can use the DNG Converter to convert your D90 files to the DNG format that can be read by Camera Raw 3. But I strongly recommend taking a look at Camera Raw 5.2 that’s now part of Photoshop CS4 as it contains significant enhancements over Camera Raw 3. -TH]

Any news on Raw plug-in updates for the Canon EOS 5D mark 2?I cannot get Photoshop CS3 to recognize CR2 files from this camera.ThanksTrevor[Trevor, Photoshop CS3 works with the Camera Raw 4 plug-in. The 5D Mark II support is only available in the Camera Raw 5 plug-in which requires Photoshop CS4. You can also use the DNG Converter 5.2 application(freely available at http://www.adobe.com/dng) to convert the 5D Mark II files to DNG and open them in Camera Raw 4.6. -TH]

I have just bought a Canon 50D which creates cr2 files but cannot get them into Photoshop CS2. After reading comments here would it be best to upgrade to Photoshop/Bridge CS4? In Adobes list it says raw 4.6 or 5.1 is needed for 50D. Can you confirm that photoshop/bridge CS 4 can read these 50D files. Many thanksPS what is dng? Is this an option for me instead of upgrading?[Photoshop CS4 will read the 50D files. More details on DNG here: http://www.adobe.com/dng -TH]

a client gave us a disk with cr2 files and my PC elements 5.0 can not open them. can you direct me to a plug-in so I can open the pictures and save them as jpg or tif?Thank you.[You can download the DNG Converter and convert the files to DNG so that Photoshop Elements 5 can open the images. http://www.adobe.com/dng -TH]

I have just purchased a Canon 5D Mk II and cannot seem to find a Camera Raw converter for it for CS3. Can you help?[You’ll need to upgrade to CS4 for raw converter support or you can convert the files to DNG (www.adobe.com/dng) and open them in Camera Raw 4 that is part of Photoshop CS3. -TH]

I just purchased a D90 in addition to my D300. I use LR1 and CS3. I cannot get my RAW files from my D90 to be recognized.Is the Camera Raw 4.6 not available anymore? If not does this mean I have to upgrade to LR2 and CS4? Thx.[D90 raw files require at a minimum Lightroom 2.1 and Camera Raw 4.6. Camera Raw updates are available here: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/ -TH]

Hi, I’m currently trying ACR 4.6 alongside PS CS3, but still seem unable to read NEF files from a D300s. Is there any version of ACR above 4.6 that would not require an upgrade of my suite to CS4. Version 5.2 seems to include the 300s but appears to require CS4. Could you please advise me of my options.